Marcelo Admits Bayern Game Was on Real Madrid Players’ Minds After Dropping Points Against Bilbao

?Real Madrid’s left back Marcelo has defended his team’s performance after Los Blancos dropped two points to Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday night.

A late Cristiano Ronaldo goal cancelled out Iñaki Williams’ first-half opener out in a ?1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Brazilian left back believes his team gave a good account of themselves despite the result, but the ?Real Madrid vice-captain also admitted that the team’s thoughts weren’t fully on the match at hand and rather on their upcoming Champions League semi final clash with ?Bayern Munich.

Real Madrid v Athletic Club - La Liga

“The goal complicated the match but we tried until the end. We cannot lose confidence for a game, we have given our best. Football is like that sometimes, sometimes it goes in and sometimes it does not,” ?Marcelo admitted (via Mundo Deportivo) after the match..

“Of course we have it [the game against Bayern] in our mind,” he continued. 

“We are very confident knowing who we have to play and what we have to do. We have the whole week to prepare for that tie and we are looking forward to winning in Munich. We are in a good form. The team is playing well, with confidence and that is the important thing.”

Real Madrid, who now sit third in La Liga’s standings and three points from second place Atletico Madrid, face Bayern Munich in the semi final on Wednesday looking to reach a third successive final.

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Bayern Munich, on the other hand, have already been crowned Bundesliga champions for the sixth successive season with the Bavarians looking to get some revenge for last season’s quarter final defeat to Real Madrid as they search for another treble under ?Jupp Heynckes.

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Spanish Report Claims Bayern Munich’s On-Loan Superstar Is Set for Sensational Switch to Barcelona

Real Madrid’s out on-loan star midfielder James Rodriguez could be set for a sensational switch to La Liga rivals Barcelona this summer, but only after making his current loan deal at Bayern Munich permanent, according to some rather ‘sensational reports’ from ?Don Balon.

The Bavarian giants plan to overhaul their squad in the summer as ?new manager Niko Kovac looks to put his stamp on the side. One of these changes are to buy James permanently and then use the Colombian superstar in a deal to bring Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic to the Allianz Arena.

James joined ?the Bavarians in the summer of 2017 on a two-year loan deal from Real after he lost his place entirely under Zinedine Zidane towards the end of last season, even being left out of the Champions League final squad despite being fit

James, who has been in fine form since leaving ?Madrid in the summer scoring six and assisted 12 goals, will be signed permanently and will then reportedly head to Barcelona.

This news, if true that is, will leave Real’s fans fuming after they were against the Colombian leaving Madrid in the first place.

Bayern Muenchen v Sevilla FC - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg Two

James’ current and former sides clash in the Champions League semi final, with the Bavarians looking to ?win the treble and Real Madrid looking to save their season with the Champions League the only realistic trophy Los Blancos can still win.

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Bayern will want to ?beat Real Madrid given the rather unfortunate circumstances they were eliminated by in last season’s quarter final. James could be pivotal in the two legged tie, given his fine run of form this season and lead Bayern to another historic treble at the end of a season of managerial crisis and infighting.

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Ilkay Gundogan Claims Manchester City Can Emulate Bayern Munich’s Success Under Pep Guardiola

Midfielder, Ilkay Gundogan, believes that manager Pep Guardiola can make Manchester City a dominant force to be reckoned with in English football, in the same way that he did with Bayern Munich.

Guardiola spent three years at the helm of Bayern Munich, winning the Bundesliga in all of those three seasons and extending the team’s position as the best in all of Germany.

Gundogan, who joined Manchester City in the summer of 2016 as Guardiola’s first signing as the manager of City, spoke ( via the Independent) about how the former Bayern Munich boss can emulate the same kind of success at the newly crowned Premier League champions. The success that made Bayern Munich almost unbeatable in Germany.

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City - Premier League

“I think he is one of the best coaches in the world and I’m really grateful to be able to work with him,” said the 27-year-old Gundogan, who also admitted that it will be much more difficult to create such dominance of domestic football in the Premier League.

 

“We have five or six teams who are all able to win the league and that makes it incredibly difficult. But we are ambitious and we aim to win every game. If we continue with this mentality then there’s no reason we can’t continue in this way.”

 

Gundogan struggled with a knee ligament injury in his first season at Manchester City that kept him on the sidelines for nine months, but has been a key player for Guardiola’s side since returning to full fitness in September last year.

Gundogan scored a 25th minute penalty on Saturday that helped Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspurs 3-1 at Wembley and has a total of seven goals in 35 Premier League appearances.?

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Eintracht Frankfurt Boss Given Glowing Endorsement by Former Bayern Star Ahead of Munich Arrival

Incoming Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovac meets all the requirements to succeed in the hot seat at the Allianz Arena next season, according to former Bayern midfielder, Lothar Matthaus.

Kovac, currently the managerial mastermind of an Eintracht Frankfurt side who sit impressively in seventh place in the Bundesliga, is to begin his three year contract with the champions-elect in the summer.

According to? Goal, Matthaus has been keen to praise the appointment of Kovac at the helm of his former club, having eventually been handed the reigns following interest in former Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel.

Interestingly, the report even claims that, by president Uli Hoeness’ own admission, Kovac was in fact Bayern’s third choice appointment, behind Tuchel and current stand-in boss, Jupp Heynckes.

Matthaus, has been keen to dispel any negativity which that may circulate around the appointment of Kovac, pointing to the Croatian’s experience as a key quality. “[Kovac] has experience, he was a very good player and was the captain of the Croatia national team”, Matthaus is credited by the report as telling Omnisport.

“Bayern was looking for a German-speaking coach who is in this position and Niko Kovac has done a very good job in the last two and a half years in Frankfurt”.

Kovac’s experience could be vital stepping into the shoes of club great Heynckes, who himself succeeded a big name list of predecessors in Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, as he once again stepped into the role in which he had previously won the league, cup and Champions League treble in 2013 before being succeeded by Guardiola later that summer.

Character, too, could be a vital managerial trait for Kovac in replacing an illustrious list of predecessors. According to Matthaus, that should not be an issue. “He has charisma, he has passion, he knows about football. He was a leader as a player and is showing this as a coach too”.

The report goes on to note that Heynckes himself has given his successor his own personal endorsement. “He does [his job] excellently, so for sure he is predestined to become coach of Bayern Munich”, the current Bayern boss said.

“He is innovative. He is a coach who loves football and who maintains good communication with his players. I think Bayern Munich made a good choice”.

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Such strong words of commendation and praise from his peers and Munich icons should fill the Bayern faithful with optimism ahead of the new man’s arrival. Kovac certainly has a job on his hands in the challenge to replicate their success at the club.?

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Anthony Martial ‘Denied’ January Arsenal Move As European Duo Eye Swoop for Man Utd Ace

?Anthony Martial is considering a transfer to Juventus or Bayern Munich this summer amid talk that he saw a move to Arsenal blocked in January.

The Manchester United forward is reportedly unhappy with life under Jose Mourinho and, according to the ?Times, may be set to leave and head to Serie A or the Bundesliga in the close season.

Juventus have reportedly made Martial their top transfer target this summer, but face competition from Bayern if they want to prise the France international away from Old Trafford.

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However, it could have been a very different story for Martial in terms of game time, with reports also suggesting that he may have joined the Gunners in the winter window instead of former teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Martial has only started four of the past 13 matches for United after Alexis Sanchez move to the north west in a swap deal involving Mkhitaryan, and the Chilean’s position on the field – left wing – has left Martial out in the cold.

United are believed to have offered the 22-year-old a new five-year deal to commit his future to them, but Martial is not interested in penning fresh terms until he is guaranteed to start matches every week for the Red Devils.

That, coupled with his treatment by Mourinho early on in the Portuguese’s United managerial career, has left Martial considering his future and a switch to Italy or Germany could now be on the cards for him.

Martial is thought to be intrigued by a transfer to Juventus, while Bayern also remain in the hunt for him despite their interest not being as strong as I Bianconeri’s at this stage.

Meanwhile, Martial’s cousin took to social media to slam Mourinho over his reluctance to give the ex-Monaco wonderkid regular minutes for the Premier League giants and claimed it is ‘impossible’ for players to improve ‘under the coach’s orders’ in something of a tirade.

(You may also be interested in ?Jose Mourinho Ready to Fight Man City for £50m Brazil Star As He Eyes Paul Pogba Replacement)

Martial may have had a better chance of playing regularly if he had moved to the Emirates, however, in January as the Times claimed that it was Martial – and not Mkhitaryan – that Arsene Wenger originally wanted to trade Sanchez for.

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United, though, blocked Martial from being part of that swap deal and it is alleged that the attacker has been left infuriated by that decision ever since.

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